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Will Green Dot Buy RushCard?

Green Dot Corp. is in talks to buy UniRush LLC, the company behind Russell Simmons’s RushCard, according to Bloomberg.

Green Dot has entered into exclusive negotiations with UniRush after an auction for the company, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. A deal hasn’t been finalized and the talks could fall apart, they said.

UniRush is worth about $150 million, according to the article. But the deal could mean much more to Green Dot.

Green Dot and RushCard have worked together in the past. Green Dot was the issuer and program manager of RushCard live, which was the retail complement to UniRush’s online business. (https://www.rushcard.com/faq/rushcard-live) Green Dot also made its reload network available to RushCard holders, so RushCard holders would know the brand.

RushCard also recently bought RapidPay!, a payroll card company. This could provide an opening to Green Dot to get into that business.

One question is whether or not RushCard would continue to operate as a separate program or be folded under the Green Dot brand. Both options are possible and each would have its pluses and minuses. Either way, the deal would expand Green Dot’s footprint greatly.

Overview by Ben Jackson, Director, Prepaid Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group